Belief
by Kiri Huo Ziv
Summary: Elsa had just one friend during her years of isolation.
1. Chapter 1: Elsa

"You took them, didn't you?" The young princess asked.

She's been sitting next to the window of her room, silent and immobile since one of the advisors of her father appeared, half-scared, to inform her of the death of her parents. He had told her (threatened her?) that the council was meeting to discuss the fate of their kingdom now that her parents were dead, leaving _her_ as their heir.

The princess didn't care about taking the throne, however. Not on that moment, not when her parents were dead and there wasn't even a body that they could burry. Lost at sea. Died in a shipwreck.

Elsa cried. Cried for a countless time in a fetal position, ignoring the apparition in his room trying to comfort her. Her only friend in all her years of isolation. A traitor.

"Why did you do this?" She said again, without raising her gaze. "I thought we were friends!"

As always, the apparition made no immediate mention of answering her, but Elsa did not care much; at that moment, she didn't feel much curiosity about the strange black haired woman who always visited her. She sighed, resigned, and began getting up when finally a soft but husky voice echoed through the room.

"Not even I can postpone the real moment of one's death," said the woman, her brown eyes glowing due the tears.

Elsa looked at her in amazement for long seconds. She had heard that voice only once during all her life: the day she met her, a few years earlier. When her existence had become an overly heavy burden and death seemed inviting, Elsa jumped from his bedroom window, waiting for a crash that would never happen.

It was then, when time suddenly stopped, that the woman appeared in front of her for the first time: her husky but sweet voice asking her if that was indeed the desire of her heart. Elsa looked into the red glowing eyes of the older woman and, for a inexplicable reason, couldn't say she wanted to die.

Since then, the woman had come to visit her almost every day, and usually Elsa was happy to have her around, even though she had never spoken to her.

After some thought, during the next years, Elsa had decided that the woman was Death. She didn't know why did she think that, but she knew, somehow, she was correct, even though she had never called the Death woman. After all, they were never introduced.

"I'm sorry, Elsa," said the woman, approaching her. For the first time, Elsa noticed how short she was.

"Now they will kill me, because I'm a monster and a monster can't be queen." She said, more resigned than panicked.

The strange apparition stared at her for a moment and tilted her head, looking at Elsa with a curious gaze. She raised her eyebrows and knelt beside the Elsa, stroking her hair gently.

For a moment, Elsa was shocked by the woman's advances. It has been many years since anyone had touched her.

"W— who are you?" The young princess asked after almost a minute of silence, and the other smiled in response.

Before it passed even one second, Elsa suddenly realized that the woman's lips were over hers. It was just a gentle brush of lips, but it made the heart of the young princess started pounding strongly and quickly in an eerily pleasant way.

"You can call me Laura," she answered, smiling sweetly at Elsa, when she pulled away slightly. "I am _Death_ and I will tell you only once: you _are_ _not_ a monster."

When that strange woman who had become Elsa's only friend during all the years of isolation pointed her finger smiling sweetly at her. At the moment when the young princess looked at her, torn between confusion and a deep feeling in her heart that she could not yet name. At this point, for the first time in many years, she believed.


	2. Chapter 2: Laura

Being an Endless means a lifetime of loneliness, especially when you are the personification of death. After all, when you are very close to what it means to be a mortal and, at the same time, you are misunderstood and feared by human kind, you end up spending a lot of time alone.

As Grim Reaper, her duty was to accompany the souls of those who were leaving to their final destination. Ironically, it was also give an option of choice for those who wished to advance their departure. When you are an Endless, especially when you're Death, you end up running into a rather surprising amount of ironies!

That day, she just had to question the talented young princess who had been imprisoned by her parents. Elsa. However, things didn't go as she had planned, which was unusual enough to leave Death rather curious.

No. Instead of refusing the offer, as Death had expected at first, Elsa had simply looked into her blood-red eyes and crack a sincere smile before shaking her head slightly and accepting the offer, she suddenly didn't want to die. As if being wrong wasn't unusual enough, Death had found a human being than feared or worshipped her anyway.

It was just out of curiosity that Death decided to return the next day (and the many that followed that) to watch the girl. Who _was_ this strange creature? What is she _feeling_ when thinking about death?

It took more than a year for Death to finally understand it. The girl saw something in her that often not even Death herself couldn't see: Life.

Instead of satisfying her curiosity, that just made it grow.

Death slowly realized that she was becoming obsessed, even though she had managed to keep herself in silence while the young princess tried unsuccessfully to talk to her. Well, _inside her head_ , Death always answered.

Even knowing that the princess couldn't hear her, it was _funny_ how she always waited for the right time until Death could set out the response inside her head. She often laughed at that while Elsa was resuming talking. And the young princess would just turn to her, expecting to hear some comment, even though both knew that Death wouldn't say anything.

It was a connection that not even Death could understand.

When the princess' parents died, both knew immediately that something would change, though they couldn't predict what would be. Death stood in a corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, as one of the counselors of the princess' parents gave her the news in a tone that made it almost a threat.

Death was surprised when she realized that she had clenched her fists tightly as she forced herself to stay apart from the scene. It took her an almost uncontrollable urge to protect Elsa from the pain and the fear that were evident in her eyes.

 _Everything will be fine._ She spoke inside her head, more than ever hoping that Elsa could hear her. _I'll protect you, no one will hurt you._ It was almost an empty promise, of course, though it didn't sounded like that to Death at that time; an Endless shouldn't engage in mortal's business more than what was strictly necessary for doing their jobs.

"You took them, didn't you?" Asked the princess, and Death felt a pang in her metaphorical heart. Although death didn't disturb her, seeing the sadness in the girl's eyes caused her great sadness. "Why did you do that? I thought we were friends."

Them? _Friends_? It was an interesting observation, because Death had never thought about that in that way. _No, you aren't someone I would call a friend,_ she spoke inside her head, a harsh answer, but she hoped the girl would understand. It was true, though, she didn't like using the word "friend" to describe her feelings for the princess.

When Elsa didn't answer right away, an invisible force that Death had met only a couple of times in the last thousand years prompted him to finally say something out loud. "Not even I can postpone the real moment of one's death. I'm sorry, Elsa."

"Now they will kill me because I'm a monster." She answered right after, which made it clear that Elsa already knew what she would say.

She suddenly found herself kneeled near the princess. It was the first time in centuries that emotions took her so abruptly, and Death knew very well what that meant and that there was no use of fighting it. _Love._

Suddenly very aware of her other name, Death reached out and gently stroked Elsa's hair. Their eyes locked into one another while, for a long time, no one moved.

"W— who are you?" She asked, and Death heard, but she was more aware of the girl leaning slightly toward her. An unconscious gesture, but Death knew that meant that both of them wanted the same thing.

With that in mind, she kissed the girl on her lips. It was a quick, soft kiss, but very powerful for Death. She was filled by a sense of completeness that, if she was honest with herself (and he was), she'd confess she had never felt before. Everything had changed.

She was _Life_.

"You can call me Laura," she said as they parted, remembering the question the girl made before, and couldn't help but smile. "I am Death and I will tell only once: you are _not_ a monster."

Elsa looked at her for a moment, her youth and innocence suddenly very evident to the other woman. _I love you_ , Laura wanted to say, but she held it back (at least for now), waiting for a reaction from the princess. So Elsa smiled, and the older noticed in deep joy: she believed.


End file.
